Que Sera, Sera

Oh, hi. It's been a while... but I'm still kicking. I've been absent from the cyber world (and hardly functioning in the real world) for the past two weeks or so, and I apologize. I'm sure you were all tired of hearing me whine about my stupid foot, and honestly, so was I. So here is the one and only mention of the foot for this entry: it feels 99.9% normal 99.9% of the time now and I think everything is going to be fine.

So... the Shamrock Half Marathon is in just 3 days. As usual, I feel like the world is conspiring against me when it comes to race day. I woke up this morning with a runny nose and scratchy throat and have commenced the popping of Airborne and allergy medicine. I'm hoping it's allergies and not the beginnings of a cold, but the fact that I am completely exhausted after sleeping 9 hours doesn't really bode well.

Oh, and then there is the weather forecast.

Why am I not surprised??

Apologies in advance to the thousands of other people running the Half or the Full that day. I know it's going to rain only because I am participating.

Aside from that craptastic weather forecast and a potential cold, I'm feeling pretty good about the Half. About two weeks ago, while I was benched, I decided that just finishing this race on my feet was going to be an accomplishment.

Whatever will be, will be.

That attitude has been very freeing. I've had some good training runs since being "unbenched" including a 10 miler last weekend that surprisingly didn't feel like death. In fact, I felt great for the duration. It was a huge boost to my confidence. Even better, a-certain-appendage-that-shall-not-be-named didn't hurt during or after or even the day after. At all.

Meanwhile, Sheila (who is running the race with me - it's her first half) and I have been plotting our race ensembles. Normally I do not like to dress up for a race, but Sheila insisted that since the Shamrock is actually on St. Patrick's Day proper that we need to be festive. I hope that it isn't raining too much, because I am actually really excited about our get ups which won't really survive the rain.

The plan for race day is that Sheila, Greg, and I will all start together in Corral 2. We'll stick together at least through mile 3, when the course splits off from Atlantic Avenue onto Shore Drive which is basically a big ugly highway. Sheila is having IT band issues and is afraid to push the pace too hard, but as always, I stick with my running buddies for at least a little bit when we do a race together. At Mile 3, Greg and I are going to put the pedal to the medal as much as possible for the rest. If Sheila feels good, she'll come with. If not, I will be there screaming for her at the finish.

With perfect conditions in a perfect world, I'm sure I can PR on Sunday, but that's not my goal. I just want to finish respectably and not broken. Considering that I missed a full 10 days of training during the most intense period (including 2 long runs), the finish itself will be quite an accomplishment.

Really, I just want Sheila to do well. It's her first race, and I want it to be a good experience. So this one is for her... with my race, que sera, sera.

I just hope the rain holds off.